Digital Solutions for Supply Chain Transparency

With zImpact we support socially innovative start-ups that develop technologies for transparency in the value chain.

At Zalando, we believe tech can be a positive force in the industry. Using our tech muscle to reimagine fashion for the good of all, we launched zImpact, a program that offers visibility, funding, and expertise to industry players that use digital technology to increase supply chain transparency. We believe that one of the best ways to improve the social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry is by creating greater transparency along every part of the supply chain; aspects like the production of raw materials and the manufacture of garments.

We envision a world where brands can choose their production partners based on reliable information about things like working conditions and pay, as well as resource management. A world where consumers can make informed choices about the human and ecological footprint of the garments they buy.

Fim begins: zImpact.

We think that, by facilitating this kind of transparency, companies and consumers will make responsible decisions and create a virtuous cycle as consumers’ expectations on these fronts rise in step with greater access to information about how the products they purchase were made. zImpact supports the shift to a more fair and sustainable fashion industry. We believe that both brands and customers want to better understand how to reduce or eliminate harm to people and the planet, and to increase their social and environmental impacts.

How we intend to do it? We will achieve this using all the tools available to us, including:

Investing in the best solutions
We are making substantial investments in for- and non-profit organizations that are committed to making supply chains transparent. We screen hundreds of initiatives to find the very best, work with them to help define their needs, and then meet those needs with our full range of technological resources.

Map the state of the industry
We create, publish, and maintain a global map of the world’s best entrepreneurs, innovators, initiatives, ideas, and trends in the domain of supply chain transparency. At the same time, we host and promote regular events like talks, hackathons, workshops, and initiate and publish articles, whitepapers, blog posts, and more.

Measure impact
We are committed to finding the best ways to measure the impact of supply chain transparency, the initiatives we support and for the program itself. We are working with the world’s leading researchers on the topic, like Karim Harji of Oxford University, and are eager to make the supply chain transparency industry itself one of the most transparent sectors when it comes to the impact of its initiatives.

In working with social startups, we are a facilitator and enabler in a vibrant and ever-increasing socially conscious tech landscape. To make this a great program we are partnering with experts in the industry and have joined forces with Working Capital. Working Capital, created by Humanity United, is an early stage venture fund that invests in scalable innovations to meet the growing corporate demand for more transparent and ethical supply chains.

We want to identify existing entities who are already doing a fantastic job in their field and connect them with the right players on the zImpact platform in the best way we can. This is also where our partnership with Fashion for Good and Plug and Play comes in.

We believe this is an ambitious and valuable effort that will create wide-reaching impact across all kinds of industries and on the lives of countless people. Our approach goes well beyond just our company alone. We invite everybody to participate in this project.

Contact us if you are aware of organizations or individuals we should know about to make this program a success: